...A line from the book "Peace Like River" by Leif Enger. I want to bear witness to the things I've seen and the ways God moves in my life, and you can make of it what you will.

Monday, November 22, 2010

We'll Muddle Through, One Day at a Time

I am a one-event-at-a-time kind of gal. In our family, we have 3 birthdays that fall within 3 weeks or so of each other, and I can really only tackle each one as it comes. I guess it is possible for me to juggle the details of several events at once, but I don't feel good about any of them when I do it that way. I do best when all of my attention is focused on one special day at a time. We do a lot of traveling in the summer, and I can only deal with the logistics and planning of one trip at a time. Otherwise I screw things up, like purchase airplane tickets for the wrong dates. One thing at a time. That's just how I roll.

It took me several years to figure that out about myself, and I think I've been apologizing for it ever since. But I don't think I'm going to be sorry for it anymore. This business (and that's all it is, commercial, money-making business) of Santa and Christmas bric-a-brac all over the stores before Halloween is ridiculous.

There are houses in my neighborhood with their Christmas lights up already...lit up! I mean, I can understand taking advantage of some of these 60 degree days to hang the lights, but for crying out loud, don't turn them on yet! What's the big rush? I can also understand that some folks just aren't like me, and they feel best when they can get all their shopping done by...whenever. Or maybe they must do the shopping early because they have to ship items across the country. Okay. I guess.

I can't think about Christmas until after Thanksgiving. I don't want it crowding in on Thanksgiving. And honestly, I end up dropping the ball somewhere along the way of I try to skip too far ahead. Jesus said, “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today." (Matthew 6:34 NLT) He said that right after He explained that when we make His Kingdom our priority, He will provide for all of our needs. What does all this rushing around to get a great deal and being a slave to the "to do" list have to do with His Kingdom? I'm thinking not much. I'm thinking it's a trap designed to take our eyes off of our Savior.

This year, we are hosting Thanksgiving, and I'm really excited. I love to open our doors, love to cook, love it all. And I am not going to spoil the Thanksgiving fun with the commercial Christmas hoo-hah. I'm not going to wish the day of gratitude away so that I can rush on to the next big deal. One holiday at a time, thank you very much! Ha! Get it? Thank you? Wishing you and yours a blessed Thanksgiving.